can you own a gun if your spouse was convicted of a crime?

[1928]

I was thinking of purchasing a gun, but my wife was convicted of a crime and sentenced to six months in jail. Does this now mean a gun cannot even be int the house? I was going to ask for more information but since I was here I thought I would ask here as well

[M-Quigley]

Technically, yes, you can own a gun. Whether it would be a problem having that gun in the house with your wife there is another matter. Was the conviction for a misdemeanor or a felony? Is she going to be on probation after she is released? Is this conviction in Ohio or some other state?

[JustaShooter]

If your wife is a prohibited person, it would get complicated. But simply being convicted of a crime doesn't make her a prohibited person. It depends on what exactly she was convicted of - regardless of the sentence she received, if the crime was *punishable* by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, she would be prohibited from possessing a firearm. That would make it difficult for you to have a gun in the house because even if she never touches the gun, she could be determined to have "constructive possession". From http://www.rip.uscourts.gov/rip/supervi ... bition.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Possession of a firearm may be either actual or constructive. The latter has been defined as
follows: “Constructive possession exists when a person knowingly has the power and intention at
a given time of exercising dominion and control over the object or over the area in which the object
is locate....” (See U.S. v Booth, et.al. 111 F.3d 2 [1st Cir. September 1997]). If you know the
firearm is present in your residence, vehicle, etc., and if it can be shown that you have the ability to
access and exercise control over that firearm personally or through another individual, then you
could be considered to have constructive possession of the firearm.

[odskaggs2]

As others have said it will depend on if the person is prohibited by law. Crimes in Ohio *punishable* by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year may or may not kick in the federal prohibition.

[marca]

Gordon Liddy used to say that Mrs. Liddy kept her pistol in a nightstand next to his side of the bed (he was a felon). Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but who could prove if your spouse knew the combo to a small gunsafe or not. My wife does not have access to NFA items that are only listed in my name. It seems like you could make it work if you wanted to.